The Music of Mali

The Super Rail Band

The Rail Band is one of the most popular musi-cal groups in the history of Malian music. The band performed regularly at the Buffet Bar at the Station Hotel in Bamako, performing Manding music. The band performs traditional-style music, using kora and balafon with Islamic-style vocals and elements of Latin music, in the Bambara language.  The Rail Band’s lead singer at its inception was Salif Keita, and the group soon became a training ground for many of Mali’s most popular performers, like singer Mory Kanté and guitarist Kante Manfila. Guitar-ist Djelimady Tounkara has been a member of the band for most of its history.

Marigoundohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Egy1VwRE1Fc

Mansahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ix-PJ16NDKM&feature=related

@ Mondomixhttp://mp3.mondomix.com/super_rail_band

Salif Keita

Salif Keita (born 1949) is an internationally recog-nized afro-pop singer-songwriter. He is unique not only because of his reputation as the Golden Voice of Africa, but because he has albinism and is a direct descendant of the founder of the Mali Empire, Sundiata Keita. This royal heritage meant that under the Malian caste sys-tem, he should never have become a singer, which was deemed to be a griot’s role.Keita was born in the city of Djoliba. He was cast out by his family and ostracized by the community because of his albinism, a sign of bad luck in Mandinka culture. He left Djoliba for Bamako in 1967, where he joined the government sponsored Super Rail Band de Bamako.

Yamore, with Cesaria Evorahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFTw0c9ew3k

Wassolon Foli, with Les Ambassadeurs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6OBEtmWvHQ&feature=related&pos=3

Folonhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAZF_uKqxtQ&feature=related&pos=16

Nyanafinhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKXyhDFlTxk&feature=related&pos=4

Mandjouhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1pqUKWfFl4&feature=related

@ My Spacehttp://www.myspace.com/salifkeitamusic

Mory Kanté

Mory Kanté (born 1950 in Guinea) is an acclaimed vo-calist and player of the kora harp. He was born into one of Guinea’s best known families of griot (hereditary) musicians. After being brought up in the Mandinka gri-ot tradition in Guinea, he was sent to Mali at the age of seven years – where he learned to play the kora, as well as important voice traditions, some of which are neces-sary to become a griot. In 1971 Kanté became a member of the Rail Band, in which Salif Keïta was a singer. Keïta left the band in 1973, leaving Kanté as the singer.  Kanté is best known internationally for his 1987 hit song “Yé ké yé ké”, which was one of Africa’s best-ever selling hits as well as being a European Number One in 1988 making it the first ever African single to sell over one million copies. 

Yé ké yé ké, with Santanahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru0XZ_4cNGs&feature=related

Tamahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atup21BtBzo&feature=related

Mokohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnIK3caxdH8&feature=related

Djelimady Tounkara

One of the foremost guitarists in Africa. Djelimady grew up surrounded with traditional music played by members of his family. The Tounkaras are Griots, musi-cians and historians by birth. Djelimady played djembe drum and xalam, a banjo-like lute, as a boy. When he moved to Mali’s capital, Bamako, during the 1960s, he had actually planned to work as a tailor. But music proved a stronger calling. He started playing guitar in a large, government-sponsored neighborhood band, Orchestre Misira. Voted the best guitarist in the band, Djelimady was selected to join the Orchestre National as rhythm guitarist, a great honor for the young player.   Tounkara became lead guitarist with the Rail Band, one of the most popular musical groups in the history of Malian music, through a quarter century of colorful history and constant change.

Fanta Bouramahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iT1iL56Ufp8

@ Mondomixhttp://mp3.mondomix.com/djelimady_tounkara

Habib Koité

Born in 1958 to musical parents, from whom he learned instrumentation by watching and listening. He joined the Bamako National Institute of Arts and became a conductor in 1978 after only six months of playing. He graduated in 1982, and formed his band Bamada in 1988. The name “Bamada” is a nickname for residents of Mali’s capital city Bamako, and the word roughly translates as “In the mouth of the crocodile. Koité is known primarily for his unique approach to playing the guitar by tuning it on a pentatonic scale and playing on open strings as one would on a kamale n’goni. Other pieces of his music sound more like the blues or flamenco

Wassiyehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4VRGALZdBA&feature=related

Africahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbIJhuEcRE8&feature=related

Takambahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ43JGm48Lg&feature=related

I Ka Barrahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCVzf9fnvD8&feature=related

@ My Spacehttp://www.myspace.com/habibkoite

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB3FLndK1Oc

Mandinka (Manding, Mandingo)Are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa with an estimated population of eleven million. They are the descendants of the Empire of Mali, which rose to power under the rule of the great Mandinka king Sundiata Keita. The Mandinka in turn belong to West Africa’s largest ethno-linguistic group, the Mandé.. Originally from Mali, the Mandinka gained their independence from previous empires in the thirteenth century, and founded an empire which stretched across West Africa. They migrated west from the Niger River in search of better agricultural lands and more op-portunities for conquest. During the 16th, 17th and 18th century as many as a third of the Mandinka population were shipped to the Americas as slaves through capture in conflict. A significant part of the African-Ameri-cans in the United States are descended from the Mandinka people. The Mandinka have a rich oral history that is passed down through praise singers or griots. This passing down of oral history through music has made music one of the most distinctive traits of the Mandinka. They have long been known for their drumming

and also for their unique musical instrument, the kora. The kora is a twenty-one string harp-like instrument made out of a gourd covered with cow skin.

Music Project from Mali - Part 1+2http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvS9v4cmM7k&feature=related&pos=3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iNaxNJM-bk&feature=related&pos=1

The Hunters lie at the heart of Malian history and haveleft their mark over all the civilizations of Mali: Bamanan, Mandinkav, Dogon, Peul, Sara-kolé, Songhai and many others. Guardians of the animistic rites, the hunters are by far the oldest traditional organization spared by the sands of time; neither Islam nor Christianity have succeeded in modifying their character.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEdKAuyGyTY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdHdLJIXjAY&feature=related&pos=5

The Great Mosque of Djenné is the largest mud brick or adobe building in the world and is considered by many to be the greatest achievement of the Sudano-Sahelian architectural style.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op3qQ2z3h9k&feature=related

The area of the city has been continuously inhabited since the Palaeolithic, but the founding of city occurred in the seventeenth century. With a population of 1,690,471, is the capital and largest city of Mali, and currently estimated to be the fastest growing city in Africa (6th fastest in the world). It is located on the Niger River, near the rapids that divide the Upper and Middle Niger Valleys, in the southwestern part of the country. Bamako is the nation’s ad-ministrative center, with a river port located in nearby Koulikoro, and a major regional trade and conference center. Bamako is the 7th largest West African urban center after Lagos, Abidjan, Kano, Ibadan, Dakar and Accra.

Toumani Diabate

Kora player who has gained international acclaim for his music. Diabaté comes from a long family tradition of kora players. His family’s oral tradition tells of seventy one generations of musicians preceding him in a patri-lineal line.   He has collaborated with flamenco group Ketama, with the American blues musician Taj Mahal, with the American jazz trombonist Roswell Rudd. He also col-laborated with the Icelandic popular musician Björk.  The Symmetric Orchestra led by Toumani Diabaté is composed of mostly griots musicians from the across the old Mande Empire, who play a mix of traditional instruments including the kora, djembe, balafon and bolombatto, as well as modern ones.

Canteloweshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DEKQjj6Ga0&feature=related

Jarabi, with Ketamahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q3fHnKKems&feature=related

@ My Spacehttp://www.myspace.com/toumanidiabate

Mamadou Diabate

He was born into a family of griots. At 16 he went to Bamako to study the kora with his cousin, the musician Toumani Diabaté. Since his move to the U.S. in 1996, Diabaté has performed with several musicians from the country, including jazz players Randy Weston and Donald Byrd, as well as with a griot ensemble composed of musicians from Mali and the United States. In 2005, Diabaté was nominated for a Grammy Award, but lost to his cousin, Toumani.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjPq30bK5x0&feature=PlayList&p=A34C3F5CFE1BE889

&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=8

@ My Spacehttp://www.myspace.com/mamadoudiabate

Oumou Sangare

Wassoulou musician, a historic region south of the Niger River, and the music there is descended from traditional hunting songs. Oumou Sangaré is consid-ered an ambassador of Wassoulou; her music has been inspired by the music and traditional dances of the region. She writes and composes her songs, which force-fully support social criticism, especially concerning the place of women and their low position in society.

Wayeinahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3nSHpD4XWI&feature=related

Djama Kaissoumouhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rY8jvIffnZc&feature=related

Yalahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8YxtVDbt1A&feature=related

with Alicia Keyeshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYrwJstW5GQ&feature=channel

@ My Spacehttp://www.myspace.com/oumousangare

Amadou & Mariam

Amadou & Mariam are a musical duo from Mali. The pair, known as “the blind couple from Mali” has made a name for themselves playing Malian blues. In 1986 the couple moved to the Côte d’Ivoire and recorded several albums and eventually the album Sou Ni Tile in Paris, which became a hit in France. The duo has playing at and recorded with international stars and festivals around the world.

Sénégal Fast Food, with Manu Chaohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3kO-QKA334&feature=related&pos=7

Sabalihttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv8BykeJf6c&feature=fvw&pos=0

M’biféhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgafofMfBFM&feature=related&pos=3

@ My Spacehttp://www.myspace.com/amadouandmariam

Boubacar Traoré, “Kar Kar”

Renowned singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Traoré also goes by the nickname Kar Kar, “the one who dribbles too much” in Bambara, a reference to his soccer playing.Traoré first became superstar in Mali and a symbol of the newly independent country in the early 1960s. He had taught himself to play guitar and developed a unique style that blended American Blues music, Arab music, and pentatonic structures found in the Mande cultural region.  Traoré has enjoyed international popu-larity, touring Europe, Africa, and North America.      He was the subject of the 2001 film Je chanterai pour toi (“I’ll Sing For You”), released in 2005.

Santa Mariyahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq-ZhaPjYjA&feature=related&pos=0

Grassroots Festival 2001http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwSZM1QT1yU&feature=related&pos=3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDoJmN_A9GU&feature=related&pos=6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNfuhfQaRC8&feature=related&pos=2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7bQ7VLC2xQ&feature=related&pos=3

@ My Spacehttp://www.myspace.com/maliboubacartraore

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4uJP6atMP8&feature=related&pos=2

Balafon (marimba)

Djemba Njarka (violin)

21 string Kora (harp)Bamako MO DJhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvd0imNxqhw&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1IM8B076Bk&feature=related

Dee Dee Bridgewaterhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaepMvr3xYo&feature=PlayList&p=D266722776AD2

7F4&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=26

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYX-BqpWBY0&feature=PlayList&p=D266722776A

D27F4&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=45

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lY8sUYnP2JA&feature=PlayList&p=D266722776AD

27F4&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=100

Markus Jameshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD8f95tUHSg

Ali Farka Touré

Singer and guitarist, and one of the Africa’s most internationally renowned musicians. His music is widely regarded as representing a point of intersection of traditional Malian music and its North American cousin, the blues. The belief that the latter is historically derived from the former is reflected in Martin Scorsese’s often quoted characterization of Touré’s tradition as constituting “the DNA of the blues”. Touré was ranked number 76 on Rolling Stone’s list of “The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”.  As the first African bluesman to achieve widespread popularity on his home continent, Touré was often known as “the African John Lee Hooker”. Musically, the many superpositions of guitars and rhythms in his music were similar to John Lee Hooker’s hypnotic blues style. He usually sang in one of several African languag-es, mostly Songhay, Fulfulde, Tamasheq or Bambara.

Machengoidihttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ok9S_HiA7ZI&feature=related&pos=5

Diarabyhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3l5KZVte6iY&feature=related&pos=1

Vieux Farka Touré

Touré is the son of Malian musician Ali Farka Touré. Vieux’s debut self-titled solo album, released online in fall 2006 and in retail worldwide February 2007, features Ali Farka Touré and Toumani Diabaté on several tracks. It has been acclaimed by critics worldwide; Vieux has proven in his energetic live shows that he is the heir to Ali’s talent, although he has affirmed his own style.

Bamako jamhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2x4M-L4WzY&feature=channel

Bullet the Blue Skyhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6I7P5e3GP0I&feature=channel

@ My Spacehttp://www.myspace.com/vieuxfarkatoure

Bassekou Kouyate

 

Taj Mahal describes him as a genius, a living proof that the blues comes from the region of Segu. Bassekou Kouyate is one of Mali’s best-known Ngoni players. He has collaborated with many important traditional musicians of his country as well as international such as Carlos Santana, U2 among many many others. Most recently he is featured on Ali Farkas posthumous album ‘Savane’ and toured with him leaving a lasting impres-sion on the audience as the bands solo ngoni player.

Ngoni Folahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rDQYImnzwU&feature=related

Segou to Londonhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcqPgLXaT68&feature=related

@ My Spacehttp://www.myspace.com/bassekoukouyate

Tinariwen

Tinariwen Means “empty places”, is a band formed in 1982 of Tuareg people who had been conscripted into Muammar al-Gaddafi’s army. They play in the “music of the unemployed” style, and sing mostly in the French and Tamashek languages. Their songs mostly cover the subject of independence for their people from the government of Mali. They are said to be the first Tuareg band to use electric guitars.

Amassakoul’n’Tenerehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcTjFbQMGs8&feature=related

Chet Boghassahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRqiqHZhKOM&feature=related

@ My Spacehttp://www.myspace.com/tinariwen

Haira Arby

Haira Arby

Nick named the ‘The Nightingale of the North”. She is from the desert around Agouni, north of Timbuktu born into a family of mixed ethnicity a Songhai mother and an Berber father. 

Desert Sessions http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Diy2_Zd-WzA&feature=fvw

Dogon

Tombouctou

Dogon countryhttp://www.dogon-lobi.ch/dogonalbum.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0Sy0gKvAko&feature=related

Tuareg

Tuareg saddel

Dogon

Festival of the Desert - Part 1 & 2http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7e_JrozuOyI&feature=fvw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-gJVO1wn7w&feature=related

Tuareg People http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xggIl_

VXNHc&feature=related

Tombouctouhttp://www.youtube.com/w

atch?v=L6GVKbmCnGo&feat

ure=related

Donso Ngonihttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thknvMXzNkM&feature=related

Nabintou Diakité

N’ Nalenahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st-_1BhL3nM&feature=related&pos=1

Ma Oulenihttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lEi_WFQ4fA&feature=related

An Diahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BAMPfnhiTU&feature=related

Issa Bagayogo

Born in 1961, Issa Bagayogo is a skilled player of the kamele n’goni, a traditional lute-like instrument. Bagayogo deftly melds Malian instruments and song structures (long, repeated musical phrases over which singers and players improvise and choruses chant—the best-known performer of this music is Ali Farka Touré) with dub, trance, and electronic elements. He does so effectively that, as with his debut album Sya (1999), the result feels like a fully-integrated merger of the two tra-ditions rather than the shotgun marriage that “world music” can sometimes seem like.

Dambalouhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxIy9l7h_vg&feature=related

Toroyahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rB7Oj8A3Dto&feature=related&pos=6

@ My Spacehttp://www.myspace.com/issabagayogo

http://www.last.fm/music/Issa+Bagayogo

Adama Yalomba

In 2003, the western audience discovers an amazing re-cord that will reach directly the best seller positions in American charts for world music. What must be said is that Festival Au Desert 2003 compounded all the great-est and famous names of Malian Music, showed in all its diversity (Ali Farka Touré, Tinariwen, Oumou Sangare, Tartit, Afel Bocoum…), with some additional notorious guests as Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin).

Mborahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnjcHNnPLeo&feature=related&pos=

Baarahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4NAZXlgE9w&feature=related

Politiquehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3i-Fy4eFM8c&feature=related

@ My Spacehttp://www.myspace.com/adamayalomba

Neba Solo

Souleymane Traoré is the stage name of Neba Solo who plays a kind of balafon, (marimba). After listening to reggae music as a teenager, Traoré decided to experi-ment with his balafon’s design, adding three extra bass keys to the instrument. In his group’s current form, Souleymane plays his specially adapted bass balafon while Siaka plays the upper-register “lead” form of the instrument. Lyrics are sung in Traoré’s native Senoufo language as well as in Bambara, Mali’s most widely spoken language. In the summer of 2003, Neba Solo was part of Mali’s delegation to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, one of a small number of musical artists to be so honored. He has collaborated with artists from Mali as well as around the world, including French electronic musi-cal artist Frédéric Galliano and the Iranian percussion group Trio Chemirani. Neba Solo has toured in Europe and North America in addition to Africa.

Musowhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXqeZArkJ70&feature=related

in Sikassohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNa0cGAMTjA&feature=related

@Deezerhttp://www.deezer.com/track/kenedougou-foly-T246874#music/album/43503

Afel Bocoum

Born 1955, Bocoum is noted as a singer and guitarist. He began his career in 1968, at the age of thirteen as a member of Ali Farka Toure’s group ASCO, and Toure is often regarded as his mentor. Both men come from the town of Niafunke on the River Niger, and are members of the Sonrai people. Bocoum is an agricultural advisor by profession.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQM16uXzi4M

Jaman Morohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9CbFHK1y4k&feature=related

Ali Farka [a tribute]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGmAfb-2Egg&feature=related

@MOGhttp://mog.com/music/Afel_Bocoum

A griot or jeli is a West African poet, praise singer, and wandering musician, considered a repository of oral tradition. The Jeli in Mande society was as a historian, advisor, arbitrator, praise singer (patronage), and storyteller. Essentially, these musicians were walking history books, preserving their ancient stories and traditions through song. Their in-herited tradition was passed down through generations. They were said to have deep connections to spiritual, social, or political powers as music is associated as such. Speech is also said to have power as it can recreate history and relationships.

Griots form an endogamous caste, meaning that most of them only marry fellow griots and that those who are not griots do not normally perform the same functions that they perform.

Today they live in many parts of West Africa, including Mali, the Gambia, Guinea, Western Sahara and Senegal, and are present among the Mande peoples (Mandinka, Malinké, Bambara, etc.), Fule (Fula), Hausa, Songhai, Tukulóor, Wolof, Serer, Mossi, Dagomba, Mauri-tanian Arabs and many other smaller groups.

Jeli Ngoni (banjo)

The ngoni (xalam ) is a string instrument originating in West Africa. Its body is made of wood or calabash with dried animal (often goat) skin stretched over it like a drum. In the hands of a skilled ngoni instrumentalist, the ngoni can produce fast rapid melodies. It appears to be closely related to the akonting and the xalam and this instrument family some believe to be the ancestor of the American banjo.

James Leva & Cheick Hamala Diabate http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVMUKSz9aK8

Traditional donso ngonihttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQMFN-whbEU&feature=relatedThe heritage of the griot

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQP4gM5Na54&feature=related